Holidays Throughout the Year
by Kates89
Summary: This is a bunch of one shots showing how the Messer's and their son Joshua celebrate the different holidays in the year.
1. Halloween

**So, GeorgeAndrews asked very nicely for a story that just had Joshua in and not Lucy and after much thought I've come up with this series, I'm going to try and write a small oneshot about Joshua on every holiday and as Halloween is only ten days away I thought I'd post the first one up now - enjoy :)**

Six year old Joshua ran along the pavement in front of Danny with his small pumpkin shaped basket in one hand and a foam sword in the other. He stopped at the next lamppost and turned to face his Father. "Come on, Daddy, we don't want all the sweets to be gone!"

"I'm sure they'll be some left, Josh" Danny laughed.

"I know but we got to get extra for Lucy, don't we?"

"Yeah we do" Danny smiled as he caught up with Joshua. Lucy, who'd been so excited about coming trick or treating had become ill with a stomach bug a few hours before the family were due to leave, so Lindsay had offered to stay at home with her while Danny took Joshua trick or treating on the promise that they'd get some sweets for Lucy for when she felt better.

"Can we knock on this door?" Joshua asked pointing up to a big blue house with a white picket fence. Two smiling pumpkins sat on the porch at the front of the house and a '_happy Halloween_' sign hung in the window.

Danny nodded after seeing all the Halloween decorations, he'd explained to Joshua before they left that they weren't going to knock on any house that didn't have any decorations as the chances were if they didn't have any it meant they didn't like Halloween.

Joshua placed his sword in his belt and took hold of Danny's hand as they walked up the path. "Will you knock the door?"

"I thought you said you were going to be a big brave pirate and ring the door bells this year?"

Joshua shrugged "I don't feel very brave now, Daddy"

"Okay, well how about I do this one and then you do the next?" Danny suggested.

Joshua nodded enthusiastically "That sounds like a good idea"

They reached the front door and Danny pressed the door bell. They stood and waited with Joshua bouncing on the balls of his feet causing his pirate hat to slip forward on his head. A few seconds later a teenage girl answered the door.

"Trick of treat!" Joshua grinned as he pushed his hat back on to his head.

"Oooh, you're a pirate" The girl smiled as she grabbed a bowl full of sweets from the table by the front door.

"I'm a scary pirate!" Joshua grinned "Arrrrr!"

"A very scary pirate!" the girl giggled "You better take some of this loot"

"Loot?" Joshua frowned looking up at Danny.

Danny smiled "It's what some pirates call their treasure"

"Oh" Joshua grinned as he took a sweet from the pot "Can I take another one for my sister? She's sick and couldn't come"

"Of course you can" the girl smiled.

Joshua took another sweet and placed them both into his pumpkin pot "Thank you very much"

"You're very welcome" The girl replied as she placed the sweet pot back on the side "Have a fun evening"

"You too" Danny said as he took Joshua's hand and led him back down the path. "Which house shall we go to now?"

Joshua waited till they got to the end of the path and looked up and down the street "Erm... that one" he said pointing to the house opposite "It's got a pumpkin on the porch, Daddy, so it's okay, isn't it?"

Danny nodded and led Joshua across the road "You go knock then"

"But you'll come with me?"

"I'll be right behind you" Danny smiled as he followed Joshua up the path.

Joshua looked over his shoulder to check that Danny was still there before reaching up and pressing the doorbell. As soon as he pressed it he ran back to his father and grabbed his hand "I did it!"

"You did" Danny told him proudly.

A few seconds later a older man opened the door "May I help you?"

"Trick or treat" Joshua grinned.

"Ooh... another trick or treater, let me just grab the treats I've got"

"Okay" Joshua smiled as the man shuffled back into his house. He soon appeared back again with a wrapped cake bar and placed it into Joshua's basket "Thank you"

"You're most welcome" The man smiled before closing his front door.

Joshua and Danny knocked on a few more houses each taking it in turns to ring the door bell and Joshua's pumpkin basket was now nearly full of sweets and cakes. They walked down to the end of the street passing a vampire, two witches, a princess and what Danny could only describe as a banana. They approached the last house, which was an old-looking house with a gate that was hanging from its hinges and one of the windows on the top floor had been partly smashed in. "I don't think we should do this one, Josh"

"Why not? I bet it's just like this cos its halloween"

"I don't think so" Danny replied as he felt a chill come over him. "Come on, let's go home"

"But... but... my buckets not full" Joshua pouted.

"Why don't we stop and Uncle Flack's on the way home then? I'm sure he'll fill your pot up"

Joshua grinned at the idea of getting to see his beloved uncle Flack "Let's go"

"Are you coming up or not?"

Danny looked up to see an old lady with long grey hair and a black floor length dress on, stood in the door way of the old house. "Oh... sorry we didn't think anyone was in"

"Well I am and I've got lots of treats here, no children seem to visit me"

Danny looked down at Joshua and then back at the old lady. He didn't really want to take Joshua up the path but he also felt it was rude to just walk away. Reaching down he took hold of Joshua's hand tightly and pushed open the gate. "What do you say, Josh?"

"Trick or treat" Joshua whispered.

"Pardon?" the old lady asked "I can't hear you"

"Trick or treat" Joshua said again as they got closer.

"That's better" the lady smiled. Turning around she picked up a pot of sweets and carried them over to Joshua "Here you go"

Joshua took a small handful of sweets and placed them in his basket "Thank you"

"You're welcome"

"Daddy, can we go to Uncle Flack's now?" Joshua asked looking up at his Father.

"Yeah, let's go" Danny replied

"Yes, I should head back in any way and tend to my cat, she's a bit sick"

"You've got a cat?" Joshua asked "I want a cat but Daddy won't let me have one cos Uncle Flack is allergic to them"

"Yes, I've got a black cat called Raven"

"Nice name" Joshua grinned "Can I see her?"

"No, I don't think that's a good idea, Joshua, not if we're going to see Uncle Flack" Danny told him

"Yes, I agree with your Father, it wouldn't be fair on your uncle" the lady smiled.

"Oh okay" Joshua said.

"It was lovely to finally have some visitors, so thank you" the lady smiled

"That's okay" Danny replied as he kept hold of Joshua's hand and led him down the path.

Half an hour later Joshua was sat on Flack's couch watching the end of a Scooby Doo episode and eating a handful of sweets from his bucket which Danny had allowed him to have while Flack and Danny had a cup of coffee in the kitchen.

"So how was your first trick or treat alone?" Flack asked.

"I wasn't alone, I had Joshua"

"I know that, I meant without Lindsay, doesn't she normally come and like vet each house before the children knock?"

"Oh yeah" Danny replied "Yeah, it was okay, me and Joshua have come back on one piece. Although, we did go to this creepy house right at the end, I didn't want to knock and had convinced Joshua not to but as we we're leaving the lady came out"

"Where's this house?" Flack wondered.

"Oh erm... Sycamore street, right at the end"

"Sycamore street... near Willow lane?"

Danny nodded "That's the one, it was the house at the end where the gate is falling off"

Flack frowned "No one lives in that house, Danno, it's been empty for years"

"Very funny, Flack. Your stupid wind ups might work on my children but they don't work on me"

"Danny, I'm not winding you up... honestly, no one lives there, I had to go there a few months back because someone was hearing weird noises but it was empty apart from a few ravens that lived in the roof"

"Ravens?"

Flack nodded "Yeah, there was about two or three of them up there"

"Oh" Danny replied. "It's just the old lady... she said her cat was called Raven"

"You are proper freaking me out now with this old lady... I told you no one lives there so I don't know who you saw"

"Freaking you out? Think about how I'm feeling! There was definitely someone there, Flack. She gave Joshua some sweets... look" Danny pulled Joshua's pumpkin basket that sat on the side over towards him and tipped it out "They were little green ones" he said as he began to rummage through.

"I don't see any green ones" Flack stated.

"Maybe... maybe Joshua's got them"

"No, you only gave him a handful of orange and black jelly sweets and a cake bar"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive because I remember thinking that I get how the orange and black sweets are halloweeny but I didn't get how the cake was"

Danny sighed as he began to put all the sweets back into the pot "I definitely didn't imagine this, I mean you can ask Joshua, he saw her too!"

"I believe you, Danny" Flack said with reassurance in his voice. "Look, I'll send some people out tomorrow okay? They can take another look round the house, maybe they might find something that'll explain all this"

Danny nodded "Yeah... yeah that sounds good and in the mean time, let's not mention this to anyone else, I don't want people thinking I'm going loopy"

"I won't say a word" Flack smiled.

"Daddy, Scooby's finished" Joshua said as he entered the kitchen.

"Are you ready to go home then bud?" Danny asked.

Joshua nodded "We can see if Lucy is all better"

"That we can" Danny smiled as he took Joshua's hat off the side and passed it to the six-year-old "Put this back on"

"But I don't want to wear it now"

"We'll you'll have to hold it then and I'll carry your sweets"

"I want to carry my sweets!"

"No, I'll carry them because I know you'll start eating them on the way home"

"I won't, I promise" Joshua begged.

"No, Josh. Carry your hat and I'll carry your sweets and then you can help me sort them out when we get home, okay?"

Joshua sighed "Okay but Lucy can have them sweets from that weird lady we saw last, I don't want any of her sweets"

Danny looked at Flack with an 'I told you so look' before turning back to his son "It's okay, I got rid of them anyway" he picked up the sweet bucket and led Joshua out towards the door way.

Flack frowned as he followed the pair out to the door. "I'll definitely make that call tomorrow"

"Yeah, please do" Danny replied.

"Okay, catch you tomorrow. Bye Josh"

"Bye Uncle Flack" Joshua replied as he walked past his Father and wrapped his arms around his Uncle's waist.

Flack smiled and hugged his nephew back "Give Lucy my love"

"I will" Joshua said as he let go of Flack and took Danny's hand. The pair then left Flack's apartment and took the short walk home back to their own house.


	2. Thanksgiving

**So I've been meaning to do this for a while and didn't realise till I got on Twitter this morning that Thanksgiving was today, so I've managed to write this one up and hopefully it's okay :)**

**Just a little disclaimer to say that I don't own Hello Kitty, Spiderman or Kermit the Frog :)**

"I can't belive you've just made me queue for twenty minutes and you didn't even go" Lindsay sighed as she held Joshua's gloved hand tightly and led him through the crowds of people. After the incident with Lucy wandering off to find the coin a few years back, crowds now made Lindsay nervous when her children were with her.

"I did need to go, Mummy" Joshua insisted.

"So why didn't you?"

"Cos by the time we had waited so long, the wee wee had all gone back up inside me"

"Well hopefully it won't come back down now till after the parade because I'm not queueing again" Lindsay told him as they approached the side of the road. She stepped down, still keeping hold of Joshua's hand and was just about to cross over when a police officer stepped in front of her.

"I'm sorry, Miss, you're going to have to go back on to the pavement"

"Oh no, you don't understand, my daughter and friend are just across there, waiting for us and..."

"I'm sorry" The police officer said again, interrupting Lindsay. "The floats are on their way and it's now unsafe for anyway to cross the road, so if you'd please like to just step backwards"

Lindsay sighed and stepped back on to the pavement. Reaching into her bag, she rummaged through the packets of crisps, nail varnish and a toy car among other things till she found her cell phone. Keeping Joshua close to her, she flicked through her phone until she found Jo's number, hitting call she held the phone to her ear.

"There you are" Jo's southern voice came through the phone after only two rings "I thought you'd got lost"

"No, there was a massive queue for the toilet and now we can't get across to you because the parade is on its way" Lindsay sighed.

"Oh no, well don't worry, I'll keep Lucy safe with me until you can get to us"

"Are you sure? I'm sorry to just dump her on you"

"Don't be silly, her and Ellie are having a great time together and she's so easy to look after anyway"

"Thank you" Lindsay smiled "I'll see you soon"

"No worries" Jo smiled before ending the call.

Lindsay felt a tug on her hand and looked down to see the curious face of her little boy looking up at her from under his green winter hat "What's wrong, Josh?"

"Are we going to go find Lucy now?"

"No, not yet sweetie, we're gonna stand here and watch the parade together and then we'll find Lucy and Auntie Jo, okay?"

Joshua frowned "So we can't watch the 'rade with Daddy and now we can't watch it with Lucy either?"

Lindsay gave the six-year-old a small smile before running her hand over his cheek "I know, it sucks that Daddy has to work today of all days, doesn't it? and now we can't get over to Lucy, but hey, at least we get to watch it together"

"That's true" Joshua smiled as he cuddled up to Lindsay's side.

Lindsay looked up when she heard the crowd beginning to gasp and cheer and she managed to see the top of the first float "They're coming" she told Joshua.

"Where? Where?" Joshua asked excitedly "I can't see!"

Lindsay moved her bag on to her shoulder before bending down to pick up her son "Can you see now?"

Joshua nodded excitedly as he watched the first float draw closer. "It's Spiderman! It's Spiderman!"

Lindsay smiled at her son's excitement "Shall we take some photos of it?"

"Yes, can I do it? Please?" Joshua begged.

"Okay, but you're gonna have to get down for one second while I find my camera" Lindsay said as she placed him on the floor.

"You got to much stuff in that bag, Mummy" Joshua giggled as Lindsay began to route through it to find her camera.

"I know, I really need to sort it out when we get home" Lindsay sighed as she carried on looking for the camera "Keep looking at the parade though, Josh, you don't want to miss anything"

Joshua turned around in time just to see the 'Hello Kitty' balloon go past "Oooh, Lucy will like that one, I bet it will be her fav'ite"

Lindsay glanced up and smiled knowing that her daughter did love 'Hello Kitty'. She soon located her silver camera "I've found it"

"Can I take the pictures?"

Lindsay smiled as handed the camera to Joshua "Nice ones though, okay? We don't need to see pictures of random people or of trash cans that you thought looked funny"

Joshua grinned and aimed the camera up at the back of the 'Hello Kitty' float "I gots to get a picture of this for Lucy so she can 'member it"

"That's a lovely idea" Lindsay smiled. "You okay staying on the floor or do you want to be picked up again?"

"Picked up again cos I can see better like that, then I can take better pictures"

"Okay" Lindsay smiled as she lifted him back up. She was glad that both Joshua and Lucy were small children so thankfully at six, Joshua was still quite light to carry.

"Santa!" Joshua exclaimed as another float came past. Holding the camera out he snapped another picture "I'm taking good ones, aren't I?"

"So far you are doing lovely ones" Lindsay told him before planting a kiss on his rosy cheek.

"Lets take a picture of us!" Joshua said as he held the camera up to face them, something he'd seen Ellie and Lucy do many a time.

"Aww, Josh are you taking your first selfie?" Lindsay giggled before smiling at the camera.

Joshua pressed the button and a flash lighted up both of their faces "Can we see?" Joshua asked.

"Pass it here then" Lindsay held Joshua tightly against her and then using her free hand she managed to get the photo that Joshua had just taken up on the screen. It was slightly an off angle, part of Joshua's chin was missing from the corner of the photo and part of his head was blocking some of hers but Lindsay still loved the cuteness of the picture and knew it was definitely one that she'd be getting framed and put on her desk at work, where she'd proudly tell anyone who'd listen that it was Joshua's first selfie.

"Mummy, look, a big frog is coming" Joshua said as he pointed across the crowds.

"That's Kermit, Josh" Lindsay explained as she held up the camera and snapped a picture of her own.

The two of the stood there watching the rest of the parade together, where Joshua got excited over each different float that appeared. Lindsay smiled, she was gutted that she couldn't get to enjoy this with Lucy and Danny but she was also pleased that she did get to spend this quality time with Joshua.


	3. Christmas

**So, here's the next chapter, a little early but the idea wouldn't leave me alone so I just had to write it. A few characters from my 'Moments' story pop up in this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it and that you all have a very merry Christmas :)**

_Ding, ding, ding_

Joshua sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, frowning he looked around his bedroom which was lit up from the moonlight coming through his window to see where the noise had come that had woken him. Not being able to see anything and still feeling sleepy he laid his head back down on his pillow and closed his eyes once more.

_Ding ding ding_

Joshua opened his eyes again. Sitting up, he pushed the covers off and climbed out of bed. If the noise wasn't coming from his room it must be coming from somewhere in the house and he was determined to find it. He grabbed hold of his stuffed toy, Bluey for protection and then went over and took his blue dressing gown from the handle of his bedroom door, slipping it on before going out on to the landing. Tiptoeing over to his parents room, he slowly opened the door and saw that both of them were cuddled up together fast asleep. Cocoa, the family dog was laid in her basket at the end of their bed, she lifted her head to see who'd opened the door.

"It's only me, Cocoa" Joshua whispered "Go back to sleep"

Cocoa turned around in her bed and laid back down to which Joshua was glad about as he knew if the Labrador got up, she would want to go outside for a wee and he was far too small to reach the key to unlock the back door to let her out. Quietly closing his parents door, he walked back along the corridor. Lucy's door was open a jar, so he poked his head around and saw his sister was also fast asleep in her bed, cuddled up with her favourite teddy, Bear.

_Ding ding ding_

Joshua realised that the sound was coming from downstairs. Did he really want to go down and find out what it was? Looking over at his sleeping sister, he wondered if he should wake her and get her to find the noise with him but then he remembered how she was last time he woke her up with a nightmare, grumpy. No, he'd be brave and find out what the noise was on his own with Bluey.

Leaving Lucy's room, Joshua walked over to the top of the stairs, looking down he saw there was a light coming from the sitting room. Didn't his parents normally turn everything off at night? Slowly he tiptoed down a few steps until the sitting room became visable and his little eyes lit up at what he saw. Over by the Christmas tree stood a man in a red suit, with white fur trimmings around the end of his sleeves and trousers, big black boots, a massive white beard and a red hat.

"Santa?" Joshua asked in astonishment.

The red suited figure quickly stood up and span around "Joshua, what are you doing awake?" he asked in a cheerful tone.

"You... you know my name?" Joshua stuttered as he tightened his hold on Bluey and began to slowly make his way down the stairs.

"Why of course, I'm Father Christmas. I know every child's name"

"Oh yeah, I forgot" Joshua replied sheepishly. "So, does that mean I'm on the good list cos you're here?"

"Yes, both you and your sister Lucy made the good list this year"

"I do try really hard at school" Joshua told Santa proudly. "I'm in first grade now"

"I know" Santa replied "And you're doing really well. I'm very proud of you"

Joshua grinned as he sat on the edge of the couch.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Santa asked.

"Your bells woke me up"

"Oh... I'm so sorry, I guess after all these years I still need to practise being quiet occasionally"

"It's 'kay" Joshua shrugged "It means I got to see you, although, none of my friends will belive me"

"But you know that it's true, Joshua, and that's all that matters"

"Yeah" Joshua smiled before letting out a yawn.

"You should head back to bed, you don't want to be tired tomorrow"

Joshua nodded and stood back up "I guess you've got to go give out the rest of your presents too?"

"That I do and I don't have much time left" Santa replied

"Thank you for my presents"

"It's my pleasure" Santa smiled "Thank you for my mince-pie and for Rudolph's carrot, I'm sure he'll enjoy it very much"

"Daddy said that he would"

"Well Daddy was right. Now you head back off to bed and I'll go give this to Rudolph" Santa said as he pulled the carrot from his pocket.

"Okay" Joshua walked over to the stairs and slowly began to climb them, not taking his eyes off the big man in the red suit. He frowned as he watched Santa head towards the front door. "Are you not going up the chimney?"

"Oh no, I only come down the chimney, it takes me far to long to climb it so I leave through the front door now"

"Oh, 'kay" Joshua replied.

"I'll see you again very soon, Joshua" Santa told the six-year-old before giving him a wave and opening the front door.

"Bye bye Santa" Joshua replied sleepily before heading back upstairs with Bluey tucked under his arm. He made his way back to his bedroom, climbed back into bed without taking his dressing gown off and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Sitting in his car, Flack pulled off his white beard and red Santa hat. He couldn't believe that one, Danny had convinced him to dress as Santa to put the presents in their house and two, that one of the children had woken up and found him. Starting the car, he made the short journey back to his house, looking forward to the excited phone call he was going to get tomorrow from Joshua, telling him all about how he saw Father Christmas.


	4. New Years Eve

**Another little Joshua story, I've noticed how he seems to be with a different character in each one, so I think I'm gonna try to continue that :) **

**I'm still working on my 'Daddy Issues', hopefully it'll be up soonish - but don't hold me to that :)**

Joshua yawned as he pulled the blue blanket of the back of the settee and draped it over him. Looking around he saw that everyone was busy, most of the adults had drinks in their hands and were talking and laughing with each other. Joshua wished he could go over and join in, maybe sit and talk to his Uncle Flack or something but his body was just so tired and all he really wanted to do was curl up on the settee and fall asleep but he couldn't. It was new years eve and Lucy had told him earlier that you weren't allowed to go to sleep before midnight on new years. Joshua didn't really understand why, but if his big sister had said it was true, then it must be.

"You alright, little dude?"

Joshua looked up to see his Uncle Adam stood over him, he gave him a small nod before reaching for Bluey who was sat by his feet, he pulled him close and hugged him tightly.

Adam plonked himself down next to the six-year-old "You don't want to play games with Lucy and Ellie?"

Joshua shook his head before sitting and snuggling himself against Adam, resting his head on the older man's chest. Adam, who was still not used to children just making themselves comfortable on him, froze slightly before relaxing and wrapping his arm around Joshua's shoulder. "What's Lucy playing?"

Adam looked over to Lucy and Ellie who were in there onesies, laid on their stomachs on the floor. He caught the sight of the bright coloured cards in Lucy's hands. "Uno, I think"

"Oh... I'm not to good at that game" Joshua muttered.

"How come?" Adam wondered.

"I get confused with some of the instructions"

"It's okay" Adam smiled as he smoothed down some of Joshua's blond hair. "You'll get it one day"

"What else do we have to do tonight?" Joshua asked as he pulled the blanket tighter around him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well on Christmas we get to open presents, so do we have to do anything tonight cos its new year?"

Adam smiled and shook his head "No, we'll all just stay here until midnight and then at midnight your Dad and Uncle Flack will go into the garden and sort out the fireworks to set off to welcome in the new year"

"Oh" Joshua frowned "So I gotta stay awake for that?"

"Well, you need to stay awake if you want to see the fireworks"

Joshua nodded as he cuddled up closer to Adam.

"What's this?" Adam asked as he lifted up a black piece of material from Joshua's back.

Joshua sat up and looked at what Adam had in his hand. "That's my cape" he said before pointing to the batman logo on the front of his pyjamas "I'm Batman"

"I see that now" Adam smiled.

"Daddy got Robin jammie bottoms for Christmas, so now we're Batman and Robin" Joshua giggled.

"That's so cool" Adam smiled. "So who's the joker?"

"Joker?" Joshua frowned "Oh... the baddie?"

Adam nodded

"All the people that Daddy and Mummy 'rrests are the Jokers cos they're all baddies" Joshua told him before letting out a yawn.

"Tired?"

"A little bit" Joshua confessed "But I gotta stay up to see midnight"

"No you don't, Josh, if you're tired I can get Mummy or Daddy to take you up to bed, tuck you in and read you a story"

Joshua shook his head "No, I wanna stay here"

"You sure?"

Joshua gave an unconvincing nod. He was tired and quite liked the idea of going up to bed and sleeping but he also knew that tonight was something special as everyone was here and he thought that if he went to bed he'd be missing out on all the fun.

"Why don't I get a story and read it to you here on the settee?" Adam suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds good"

"Which story do you want?"

Joshua shrugged "I don't mind, you choose one"

"Okay" Adam smiled as he untangled himself from the six-year-old and made his way upstairs to find a book.

Joshua sat up and watched everyone around the room while he waited for Adam to return. His Mum was showing his Auntie Jo some photos which Joshua expected were from Christmas day. He couldn't see his Dad but he could hear his voice coming from the kitchen, there was a laugh which Joshua guessed came from his Uncle Flack before his Dad's voice continued. Lucy was still laid on the floor, though the game had now changed from Uno to one of the many board games that they owned.

"I'm back" Adam smiled as he sat back down on the couch, lifting his arm, he left Joshua snuggle back up to him before showing him the two books that he'd choose. "Do you want, 'the dog from the bog' or Sammy's adventure to space'?"

"The space one" Joshua replied before letting out another yawn.

"Okay, the space on it is" Adam placed the dog book next to him before opening up the space book. He'd only read a couple of pages when Joshua's breathing started to even out. Adam read a few more, because he wanted to make sure that the little boy was fast asleep and also because he was now curious as to what happened to Sammy and his space rocket.

Once he'd finished the book, he placed it down on top of the dog one and slowly stood up lifting Joshua into his arms. Picking up Bluey which Joshua dropped as Adam had picked him up, he tucked the bear under his spare arm and made his way over to Lindsay. "He's crashed"

"Oh bless him, I didn't think he'd last it out" she smiled

"Want to put him to bed?"

"No.. I mean I'd love too of course, but moving him from me to you and then to the bed would probably wake him up, so why don't you just put him to bed?"

"You sure?"

Lindsay nodded, standing up she planted a kiss on Joshua's forehead "Night night little man, I love you"

"Should I let Danny say goodnight or should I just take him up?"

A roar of laughter came from the kitchen. "I think it's best you just take him up" Lindsay replied "I'm pretty that Danny's now in a state where he won't even remember saying goodnight to Joshua anyway"

Adam smiled as he gently moved Joshua to a more comfortable position on his hip "I'll just take him up then"

"Okay" Lindsay smiled as she sat back down at the table with Jo. "Oh Adam?"

"Yeah?" Adam said turning around

"Thank you"

"It's no problem" he smiled before carrying Joshua upstairs to his bedroom.

Adam awkwardly held Joshua with one arm while he used the other to pull back the Spiderman duvet cover, he then carefully placed Joshua down tucked Bluey under his arm and covered him over with the duvet. "Night night Josh" he smiled as he began to walk out of the room. He stopped in the doorway and turned around "Oh and happy new year." Closing the door ajar, Adam made his way back down stairs to join the others.


	5. Valentines Day

**So, I was going to leave this until nearer Valentines day but the idea just kept shouting at me and I thought you lot wouldn't mind if I put it up a little bit early, hope you enjoy :)**

Hawkes entered the break lab to find the Messer's youngest child sat up on one of the stools by one of the tables. A rainbow of crayons were spread over the table and Joshua had his little tongue poking out as he coloured, just as Lindsay did when she was concentrating. "Hey Bud" Hawkes said as he made his way over to the fridge to grab a bottle of water "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to your friends house after school?"

"I was" Joshua replied without looking up from his picture "But Luke got sick at school so I couldn't go round, so I've got to stay here till Daddy finishes and then we're going to pick Lucy up together"

"From her friends?"

Joshua nodded as he placed the red crayon back on to the table and picked up a purple one.

"What are you up to?" Hawkes asked as he came and sat at the table with Joshua.

"Drawing"

Hawkes picked up a picture that Joshua had already done and smiled at it. On the front was two people one bigger than the other, the smaller person held the string of a love heart balloon and at the top Joshua had written '_I luv you' _"This is sweet, Josh. Who is it for?"

"Mummy, it's for Val'tines day" Joshua told him proudly. "Girls are yucky but I still wanted to give someone something for Val'tines day, so I'm making Mummy, Daddy and Lucy a card cos I love them and that's what the days about, isn't it?"

Hawkes nodded "That's right, the day is all about love. Valentines day is soon, right?"

"It's today" Joshua smiled as he began to colour with the purple crayon.

"Today?!" Hawkes pulled out his phone from his pocket and checked the date and realised that the six-year-old was right.

"Did you get 'mille something nice for today? Cos you love her right, so you should have!"

Hawkes smiled at the way Joshua pronounced Camille's name and then quickly frowned realised that he hadn't got his finance anything. "No, I've been kind of busy, Joshua, so I forgot all about valentine's day" he admitted.

"Don't worry, Daddy forgot till last night too. Lucy reminded him cos she wanted a card for her boyfriend but Daddy told her she wasn't allowed a card cos at nine she shouldn't be having boyfriends, so then she ran upstairs in a huff" Joshua sighed "But cos Lucy was huffing and Mummy was in the kitchen making dinner, Daddy took me to the shops and we got Mummy a nice necklace and some chocolate and Daddy said he's also going to get her something else today, she's lucky isn't she?"

Hawkes let out a little laugh "Your Mummy is very lucky, she's getting lots of lovely presents"

Joshua grinned "Mummy got Daddy something too, but she won't tell me what it is, I think it's cos she thinks that I'm not good at keeping secrets"

"Well have you told Mummy what Daddy's got her?"

Joshua shook his head "No cos Daddy said if I kept it a secret he'd buy me some chocolate!"

"Ooh, well that's a good reason to keep a secret, isn't it?" Hawkes smiled.

Joshua nodded "I like chocolate"

"I know you do"

"What are you gonna get 'mille? Maybe you should get her some chocolate?"

"Yeah, I might have to stop at the shop on the way back tonight and see if I can grab something"

"Maybe you could make her a card with my crayons?" Joshua suggested as he passed Hawkes a piece of paper over "Maybe she'll stick it on the fridge like Mummy does with mine and Lucy's drawings"

"I think she might just stick it on the mantle piece, but it's the same sort of thing" Hawkes replied as he folded the piece of paper in half. "What should I draw on the front?"

Joshua thought for a second, tapping his finger against his chin as he did so. "Flowers? Does she like flowers?"

"I think so, I think her fav..."

"Or a puppy!" Joshua replied excitedly "Everyone loves puppies!"

"You're right, they do, I'll see if I can draw her a puppy" Hawkes smiled as he reached for the black crayon.

"Maybe a puppy in field of flowers?" Joshua giggled.

"Yeah, I guess the puppy could be in a field of flowers. What shall we call the puppy?"

"Erm... something to do with love cos it is Val'tines day"

"That's very true... what about Hearty?"

"Hearty? That sounds like when Uncle Adam pretends to be a pirate, he call me his hearty"

"Me'hearty?"

"Yeah, that's it" Joshua laughed. "That's what he says"

"Okay, What about Rosie? Because Roses are given on Valentines day?"

"Yes, I like Rosie for the puppies name" Joshua smiled "Maybe you should get her a puppy to go with the card, like get one that looks like the one you draw and call it Rosie"

Hawkes smiled, the idea was a sweet one but he wasn't sure him or Camille had the time to look after a new puppy. "I'm not sure I'll be able to get a puppy now, this late on Valentines day"

"What about a toy one? Lucy has lots, I could get one of hers for you and she wouldn't even notice! Mummy said she could start a zoo with the amount of cuddly toys she's got"

"I don't think Lucy would like it if we took one of her beloved toys, I'm sure I'll be able to find one on my way home"

"So you're gonna get a cuddly one? I think 'mille would like that"

"I am, thank you for your brilliant idea, Joshua"

Joshua smiled proudly "It's 'kay"

"Joshua, ready to come and get Lucy with me?" Danny said as he came into the break room carrying his coat.

"I didn't finish my pictures" Joshua replied sadly.

"It's okay, you can finish them when you get home" Danny smiled. "Put the crayons back in the packet and then we'll take them to Uncle Mac on our way out"

"But, Uncle Hawkes needs them!" Joshua said

"What?" Danny frowned.

"He's making 'Mille a Val'tines card, aren't you?"

Hawkes nodded "Your son has been a star, Danny, he reminded me about Valentines day today and because I forgot all about it, he helped me to come up with ideas of what to get Camille"

"You did?" Danny asked as he picked Joshua up and rested him on his hip "What did you come up with?"

"A puppy!"

"A real one?"

"No" Joshua giggled "Uncle Hawkes is gonna get a cuddly one. I told him he could have one of Lucy's but he said he'd buy his own one"

"Yeah, that's a good idea, I'm not sure your sister would want to part with any of her toys" Danny smiled. "Now we better get going, little man, as I want you and your sister to help me make Mummy's dinner before she gets home later"

"Are we all having dinner together?" Joshua wondered "Cos Mollie at school said parents have dinner on their own tonight cos it's Val'tines day"

"Well, we're gonna do it different because I want to spend it with everyone I love and that includes you and Lucy too" Danny told him before planting a kiss on his cheek. "Now go and say goodbye to your Uncle Hawkes and then we've really got to go"

"Okay" Joshua smiled as Danny placed him on the floor. He went over and hugged Hawkes "I hope 'Mille likes her present"

"I'm sure she will" Hawkes smiled.

"I'll see you later" Joshua said as he pulled away from Hawkes and went over to put his coat on that was laid on the couch "Where's Mummy? Can I say bye to her?"

"She's out with Uncle Flack and Auntie Jo" Danny told him as he came over to zip his son's coat up "We'll see her in a couple of hours though"

"After we've cooked her dinner?"

"Yeah, that's right" Danny smiled as he took Joshua's hand "I'll catch you tomorrow, Doc"

"Yeah, see you soon" Hawkes replied as he watched Danny and Joshua walk to the door.

"Wait!" Joshua exclaimed as they got to the door "I didn't tidy the crayons up!"

"It's okay" Hawkes laughed "I've got to finish this picture, so I'll tidy them up when I've finished and give them back to your Uncle Mac"

"Okay" Joshua smiled "Thank you!" he gave Hawkes one last wave as Danny lead him out of the break room and to the elevator.


End file.
